{"id":327051,"date":"2020-09-30T10:39:08","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T10:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=327051"},"modified":"2020-09-30T10:39:10","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T10:39:10","slug":"in-ladakh-stand-off-of-a-different-kind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/in-ladakh-stand-off-of-a-different-kind\/","title":{"rendered":"In Ladakh, stand-off of a different kind"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In an unprecedented move, all political parties in Leh including the BJP have decided to boycott the elections to Ladakh Hill Development Council (LAHDC) pending grant of 6th Schedule of Constitution to the union territory. The safeguards under the constitutional provision are sought to protect the land, jobs and the identity of Ladakh.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is more, the parties have embarked on political mobilization to demand their rights. When the senior J&K BJP leader Ashok Kaul termed the demand for 6th Schedule as \u201cnon-sense,\u201d the people came out on the roads to protest.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWapas jao, wapas jao, Ashok Kaul wapas jao (Go back, Ashok Kaul),\u201d shouted the protesters outside the hotel where Kaul was staying. The protest was led by newly formed People\u2019s Movement for Sixth Schedule (PMSSL) for Ladakh, an amalgam of different <\/span>
\npolitical parties and socio-religious organizations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe apex body of people\u2019s movement for sixth schedule for Ladakh, unanimously resolved to boycott the ensuing 6th LAHDC Leh election till such time the Constitutional safeguard under 6th schedule on the line of Bodo Territorial Council is not extended to Ladakh UT and its people,\u201d a joint statement issued by the PMSSL said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Significantly, the statement has also been signed by the local BJP president\u00a0 Nawang Sawstan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier, the LAHDC, an elected body, charged with local governance in Leh had passed a resolution demanding safeguards for Ladakh\u2019s unique identity.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOwing to Ladakh\u2019s distinct socio-cultural aspect, its strategic location and fragile eco-system, the general public cutting across all sections of society have been demanding constitutional safeguard for protection of land, employment, environment, business and culture,\u201d the resolution moved by the Deputy Chairman LAHDC, Leh Tsering Samdup read.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ladakh has two LAHDCs for its twin districts Leh and Kargil. Total population of Ladakh, according to 2011 census is 2.74 lakh.\u00a0 While Leh with a population of\u00a0 1,33,487 is Buddhist majority,\u00a0 Kargil with a population of 1,40,802 is Muslim majority.<\/span><\/p>\n

The resolution\u00a0 offered the centre several options to address the issue: \u201cUnion Territory of Ladakh be granted constitutional safeguards \u2014 either under 6th schedule or Article 371 or Domicile Act of the constitution of India to protect the tribal rights of indigenous people of Ladakh\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But now the political consensus in Leh is around 6th Schedule. Interestingly, LAHDC Kargil does not support the Leh resolution, nor the boycott exercise. Instead, Kargil demands a reversal of revocation of Article 370 and 35A and wants to be re-united with the Kashmir Valley.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Leh\u2019s problem is not only the threat to the identity of the district as a Buddhist majority area but also the political empowerment of the place. In the new scheme of things, the democratically elected LAHDCs,\u00a0 both of Leh and Kargil, have become redundant. The region is now directly ruled by the centre through a Lieutenant Governor. So, elections to LAHDCs mean little for the regional empowerment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe UT status for Ladakh was our long pending demand but we also wanted legislature. But in the post-Article 370 arrangement we have no legslature,\u201d said Ladakhi leader Chering Dorjay, who quit the BJP in May when he was the party\u2019s Ladakh chief.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leh\u2019s problem is two-fold: Deprived of the constitutional protections under Article 370 and 35A, Leh feels suddenly vulnerable to influx of people from rest of the country and consequent dilution of its identity. In addition, as a union territory, Leh has even been deprived of local self governance. \u201cWe demand that until or unless the government doesn\u2019t empower the hill council, election has no meaning,\u201d Jigmet Paljor, Chief Coordinator Ladakh Students\u2019 and Environmental Action Forum, who is one of the members of PMSSL said. \u201cWe want safeguards for our culture, identity, environment and other things. We hope the Government will not take any step that threatens the unique culture of Ladakh\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an unprecedented move, all political parties in Leh including the BJP have decided to boycott the elections to Ladakh Hill Development Council (LAHDC) pending grant of 6th Schedule of Constitution to the union territory. The safeguards under the constitutional provision are sought to protect the land, jobs and the identity of Ladakh. What is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":327071,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,2205],"tags":[1694,13522],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327051"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327051"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327081,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327051\/revisions\/327081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/327071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}